China has officially announced its plans of building its first airport in Antarctica according to several media reports citing an article published by the official newspaper of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.
The reports said the construction of the airport is set to begin anytime in November. Researchers have reportedly commenced gathering data and survey in preparation for the airport construction. The airport would initially be designed to be of service for the Snow Eagle 601. Ultimately, it would be used for scientific research in the region and by then would be capable of accommodating larger aircraft.
Donald Rothwell, a leading expert in International Law, told Australian publication Herald Sun the purported airport would definitely enhance China's capability for scientific research in the region.
Anne Marie Brady, another Antarctic expert from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, noted that China has already built three bases in the region, aside from two field camps, as well as three airfields.
Like the South China Sea, Antarctica is also the center of overlapping territorial rights among different nations. Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom all assert rights in the icy continent.
The United States, meanwhile, has been operating several airports in the region while Russia, Italy, India, and Australia each have one airport in Antarctica.
Russia's territorial claim in the icy continent is based on historical rights. The country asserts that it was the one which discovered the continent back in 1820. The United States and the United Kingdom also assert the same historical rights.
Australia is the strongest claimant of the territory, claiming to own as much as 42 percent or 5.9 million square kilometers of the region according to ABC News. In comparison, the country's claim in the region is almost as big as 80 percent of the overall size of Australia.
Australia has allotted $2 billion on a new Antarctic icebreaker, the RSV Nuyina, to enhance its scientific exploration in the continent.
Reacting on the news that China announced plans of starting the construction of its first airport in the disputed territory, Professor Rothwell said Beijing has been acting within the Antarctic treaty system.
The Antarctic Treaty was initially signed in Washington on Dec. 1, 1959, by 12 countries whose scientists had explored the region during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58.
The treaty took effect in 1961 and has since been assumed by 53 other nations. Some major provisions in the treaty stated that Antarctica shall only be used for peaceful purposes, for freedom of scientific investigation, and that all scientific findings shall be made freely available.
